New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, November 21, was informed that as many as 5,097 criminal cases against MPs and MLAs are currently pending before various courts in the country, despite the top court being seized of the matter.What’s more, this figure has only been increasing in previous years, going from 4,122 in December 2018 to the present figure of 5,097, and the new figure doesn’t even include cases in Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, for which data is not available.These submissions were made to the top court in a hearing pursuant to a 2016 petition by lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay regarding criminal cases against legislators in the country.In the present hearing, the submissions regarding the number of pending cases were made to a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli by senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, the amicus curiae in the case, through a supplementary report.According to a report in the Tribune, Hansaria also pointed out that 41% of these cases are more than five years old, “despite the fact that this court is seized of the matter and has passed various interim orders from time to time to expedite the trial.”He continued that the highest proportion of cases pending for more than five years (out of the total number of cases against legislators) was registered in Odisha (71%), followed by Bihar (69%) and Uttar Pradesh (52%).Hansaria’s report also noted that the increase in pending criminal cases against legislators has taken place despite the top court monitoring the issue and even taking steps from time to time to expedite the trials.Also read: What Can Be Done To Truly Ensure The Fast-Tracking Of Criminal Cases Against Netas?In the last hearing in the case in October this year, the top court, on Hansaria’s request, had directed all high courts to file affidavits regarding the number of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs pending for five years or longer along with the steps taken to dispose of them in an expeditious manner.The present report was made by compiling the responses from the high courts.In the last hearing, Hansaria had also asked the Supreme Court to consider passing directions to judicial officers dealing with criminal cases against MPs and MLAs to exclusively deal with these cases.Further, on Hansaria’s request, the top court had amended its order dated August 10, 2021 which required the court’s prior approval for the transfer of judicial officers of Special/CBI courts involved in prosecuting MPs and MLAs.The top court’s modification made it so that no prior approval would be required for such transfers that are made in normal course (due to the expiration of an officer’s tenure at a particular posting). However, prior approval would still be required for all transfers that were not in normal course due to the expiration of tenure.The matter is likely to be taken up by the court today (November 22).